Truth and Beauty

About 200 years ago, a poet named John Keats wrote a poem titled “Ode to a Grecian Urn.” The long poem ends with “Beauty is truth, truth is beauty. That is all ye know on earth, all ye need to know.”

About 40 years ago, a young American spiritual leader named Steven Gaskin, proclaimed that beauty, truth, love, joy, and oneness are simply different sides of G-d. Gaskin went on to lead a group of mandala covered buses filled with followers to start a commune in the country.

How many of us believe what Keats and Gaskin did about truth and beauty?

Marie Kondo has published a book advising us to simplify our lives by getting rid of all our possessions that do not bring us joy and beauty.

How many of us keep only that which brings us joy by being something beautiful that we love?

How many of us have lived too long not thinking we need truth or beauty in our lives to experience joy?

Where do we find truth today in our world of political correctness born of a sincere desire to do and be good? We look for it in our political leaders. We recently had the major candidates of our two parties running for President while the majority of voters did not think that they were telling the truth and had a lot of reason to think so. 

We look to the fourth estate to work hard to find and present the truth to its readers. We find that too often journalists are motivated to present the sensational more than the actual, the partial rather than the whole story. The truth gets lost in the translation.

The mainstream media is on a mission and it isn’t about revealing the truth but rather about creating impressions that reinforce biases and effect change. That is a proper function for opinion columns that have an important place in journalism, but not for straight news reports. The examples are numerous.

The media was excited about what was called stand-your-ground case gone bad in Florida a few years ago. We were told that a young, unarmed teenager was shot in the back in what was being called a stand-your-ground that showed what was wrong with the Florida law that allowed someone to shoot and kill another if he felt his life was threatened. 

After months of daily news coverage and destruction of the accused’s life, the killer was finally vindicated. Police photos that were taken shortly after the shooting showed that the accused had a broken nose and the back of his head was covered in blood. The murder victim only had bruises on his knuckles from beating the older man. The teen was shot in the chest at close range not in the back while walking away. A jury, including six mothers, found the defendant innocent, having killed in self defense. All this was forensic evidence of self defense was known to police moments after the event. 

The media had access to this evidence but chose not to seek or share it. The story would not be sensational and whatever point was wanted would not be made. We didn’t get the truth. The media was very quiet about the shooter's innocence. So to this day, the person who killed in self defense is the villain and the teen who died while trying to kill an older, smaller man because the man asked him a question, is still a martyr. 

Something similar happened a few years ago. A town was up at arms because they thought that a police officer killed an innocent teen. We were told that the young, six foot-five inch former high school football player had his hands up and was surrendering when he was shot and killed. After a three month grand jury investigation, the officer was found not guilty. The forensic evidence and the honest testimony of a few residents revealed that the story about there being hands up in surrender was an absolute lie. The U.S.Attorney General investigated and also found the officer innocent. The residents violently rioted for four months looting and sometimes totally destroying businesses. The media showed the riots almost every day and seemed to revel in them. The media was quiet about the fact that the officer was clearly innocent.  

But the most glaring instance of a dishonest mainstream media is its handling of the 2016 Presidential election. 

 I have claimed that the mainstream media is sensationalist, superficial and subjective. All three characteristics also make it dishonest. In order to be sensational, the issue needs to be presented in black and white. It needs to be superficial. And choosing what to make sensational, journalists become subjective, deciding what to cover and what to ignore. Ignoring important stories or details of a story is dishonest.

In this latest example of American journalism at work, we saw media’s subjectivity trumping and causing the sensational and superficial.

The people in the mainstream media decided early and nakedly that they favored one presidential candidate over the other and that they would use their power to make their candidate victorious. They failed, but they keep trying coming out with negative issues to blame the President for. The didn't want him to be President and they still don't. If they were truthful they would start issue with an admittance that they will write whatever is negative about him, regardless.

What about beauty? It is an end in itself as well as a means? 

When we dress do we wear clothes that we love because of their beauty or wear just anything that is easily available? The tend now unbelievably is to buy ripped and dirty jeans for high prices. When we choose a home, do we love the place for its beauty or is it just a place to live in? When choosing a car do we choose one that we consider beautiful or whatever is available in our price range? And why do people wear body piercing in their nose and lips? 

 Are American cars still beautiful?

I grew up in the eartly 1950s. American cars were beautiful, from 1953 on all the way to 1979. Every August, I would go to the dealerships and check out the latest models which were unique and always changing from year to year. We had the Thunderbird, Corvette, Cadillac,  Lincoln Continental, Buick, especially 1953, and other great American cars. People bought cars based in large part on beauty. What has happened?

Are today’s American cars beautiful, unique or changing yearly? Can we tell the difference between a Chevy or a Kia?

America seems to have given up on competing in the family car business. Name an American car that you would buy at least in part for its beauty - not counting the Tesla. We’re not talking pick-up trucks and SUVs. 

Now name five foreign cars that appeal to your aesthetic.  

I would name the VW, Audi , Mazda, BMW, Mercedes, Accura and Lexis (seven cars) to name a few. Some of these foreign makes include several desirable models like VW with its Beetle, Golf, Jetta station wagon, and the CC also the Audi A3, Audi A4. To me they are beautiful not just something to drive to get somewhere. They are a means to an end but should also be ends in themselves - if we love them.

Look at our motorcycles. While Hartlery Davidson has kept the faith, most foreign manufacturers have sacrificed beauty for function. The BMW of the 60s was regal. It was usually black with white striping. It was elegant and quiet. Today's version is neither. Like so many other motorcycles, it looks today more like an erector set than a motorcycle. 

And what about hair styles? Young women used to do whatever was necessary to have a hairstyle that looked best on them. Today, I see many women apparently unwilling to make this effort, wear their hair in a bun atop their head or scrunced up on the back of their head. Some seem to not even brush their hair wearing it as it dried naturally. 

And then there are the bizarre hairstyles. Some people choose to have their hair dyed in unnatural colors like pink and purple. There are the men who wear Mohawks, shave their heads, or wear dreadlocks or braided hair down to their shoulders. Does anyone think that those styles are really attractive and make the wearers look their best? Some men and women are considerate enough to wear their hair short and manageable and, not amazingly, also look really good.  Other women have enough pride to take the time to make their hairdo complement the face and not cover it with unruly hair. Remember when professional athletes wore short hair and were clean shaven?  Nowadays it seems to be "anything goes."

Truth still is beauty, beauty is truth.